The Rose Theatre was a home for theatre troupes for only about 20 years, then the theatre was pulled down. It seems silly to think that Philip Henslowe would build such a structure with his own money, just to have it used for such a short amount of time. However, different factors lead into the downfall of the theatre that was situated on Bankside, Southwark in London, including the Bubonic Plague, increasing rent of buildings, and competition from other theatres in the area. In order to talk about the issues that contributed to the eventual tearing down of the Rose, it is important to note how it initially got started. It was the fourth public theatre to be built, but the first on Bankside (Severdia). Philip Henslowe was leased the land, called “Little Rose”, in 1585 and the actual theatre was built by carpenter John Griggs in 1587 (Adams). Records show that the actual theatre was small, polygonal-like structure with 14 sides (“The History”). A lot of the knowledge of how the Rose looked was from the two-thirds of the theatre’s ground plan that was discovered by archeologists …show more content…
Henslowe put his own money into this playhouse, just to have it be torn down around 20 years later. It’s hard to imagine a theatre being pulled down in today’s era because of how unsuccessful it was, but the Rose hit a string of bad luck. It all started with the outbreak of plague that hit, however, even if that had not happened at all, the Rose probably would have still been torn down. This is due to the fact that the theatre had popularity even with the outbreak of plague and with any sort of popularity comes people who want to compete with that. The other theatres would have still popped up on Bankside to challenge the Rose and it would have spiraled from there. The plague just happened to be a catalyst in the events that occurred
Many wondered what the true cause of the Black Plague was and how it spread all across the world in such a short amount of time. Throughout its time period, many medical authorities and scientists sought to give rational explanations for the reasons why the plague was spreading and believed it was caused by several factors such as: “corrupted air and water, hot and humid southerly winds, proximity of swamps, lack of purifying sunshine, excrement and other filth, putrid decomposition of dead bodies, excessive indulgence in foods (particularly fruits), God's wrath, punishment for sins, and the conjunction of stars and planets” (Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence). The confusion and lack of scientific knowledge on the harmful disease caused much panic and triggered many outbreaks among individuals. Many people began to start placing cities and ships under quarantine, burning sulfur to purify bad air, burning clothes, and even blaming and killing Jews in hope that they could solve a cure or at least stop the spread.
The Black Plague came to Europe at a time referred to as the late middle ages. At this time, the quality of living was looking better than in the past
The Black Plague still to this day remains one of the worst epidemics in known history. When the plague first hit most people weren’t too concerned, thinking that it would be cured and it wasn’t anything to spectacular. That thought quickly changed as the epidemic spread like wildfire and killed most of the people who caught it very quickly. It wiped out over a quarter of Europe and surrounding countries and no one knew where it came from. Many people thought that because it was incurable and killed so efficiently that this was the apocalypse starting. At this point in history, many theories revolved around religious beliefs and the fact that everyone thought God had a role in almost everything, natural and unnatural. Two of the main religions
The Web. The Web. 24 Mar. 2011. The. http://liboc.tctc.edu:2058/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420001374&v=2.1&u=tricotec_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w> The "Plague".
The Restoration in England was an era ripe for the development of new ideas in the arts. The return of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II marked the end of eighteen years of almost dictatorial control by Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan parliament. Cromwell had campaigned actively to halt all theatrical activity. In the end, however, his laws were actually responsible for helping move England forward in theatrical history. Actors, under Cromwell's laws, were to be apprehended a rogues if they were caught "in the act" so to speak of performing their trade. Some left their careers and sought employment elsewhere. Most, however, remained undaunted by parliament's threats. Productions continued quietly in tennis courts, inns and private houses. Officials were bribed to keep silent their knowledge of violations. The theater in England had moved indoors as it had already done in France and Italy. Although the reasons for the move were different, the end result was the same. Up until this time plays had always been performed outdoors in the early afternoon. Performances traditionally relied on sunlight, natural scenery, and minimal set pieces that could be easily transported from one location to another. Indoor productions required something much more elaborate. The preliminary concepts of scenic design and lighting design began to form in England in the late 1650's. During the Restoration, as controls were lifted, technical theater began to flourish. Many early examples of modern stage techniques were born between 1660 and 1800, making the Restoration a significant era in the history of scenic design and lighting for the theater. The art of scenic design did not begin in England. As early as 1570 the Italians were giving elaborate opera performances in the ducal courts using perspective scenes and various types of stage machinery. The French mimicked the design ideas of the Italian's and gave them a name, la scene a l'italienne. (Southern 221) Although Cromwell had banned public theater, opera was still considered a lawful art form. In England, just prior to the Restoration, John Webb designed the scenery for William D'avenant's 'opera' production of The Siege of Rhodes.
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
The rose at that point of history was an inn on the same road as the
...ant events in the entirety of the history of Europe. The confusion and devastating effects of the plague on the people in Europe was the cause of a mass questioning of the effectiveness of religious authority leaders and ineffective attempts made by political authority leaders to inhibit the social growth of the lower class, a dramatic shift in the division of wealth in European society, and increased persecution and discrimination of Jews and other outlying groups in society. The Black Death was a very unexpected outbreak of disease in medieval Europe. Our modern society is still plagued by outbreaks of diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, Swine Flu [H1N1] and Bird Flu, [H7N9] so we must take in consideration the devastating mass effect this epidemic had on the people of the 14th century and be prepared should an epidemic similar in scale and proportion happen again.
In the 1300s the plague spread so quickly in cities for many reasons. There were
We can see this as we compare the writings of Weyer, (document 4) from the fifteenth century, who feared the Plague, to the writings of Bertrand, (document 16) from the eighteenth as he declared the Plague was cause because of religious superstition. This shift in belief may be caused by the "Age of Enlightenment" that caused people to think more irrationality, and to heavily believe in
This new theatre was an extremely risky venture. Any actor caught performing would be imprisoned. Box office receipts would be confiscated for the Commonwealth. Enormous fines would be levied against any daring to sit in an audience. Entire playhouses would be destroyed, their interiors gutted or exteriors burned. Theatre faced extinction. It became an obsequious art, catering to Cromwell's strict moral code. Killigrew would survive, and eventually form the Theatre Royal, but he lived in constant fear. Davenant worked through legal channels to produce theatre Cromwell could not dispute. His pieces were simple, more opera then play, and propaganda for the Commonwealth. Interestingly, the first woman to appear on the British stage did so in this time, in Davenant's The Siege of Rhodes. He began pushing the envelope, uncomfortable in his new sycophantic role. He renewed his ties to the British aristocracy, exiled to France. He befriended Charles II, and when the young king made his triumphant return to power, Davenant was given the monopoly on all theatre in London. He shared this power with his old friend Thomas Killigrew. Under their guidance, the theatre exploded back into being.
First of all, Broadway is the heart of the American theater. The only other theatre district in the world that compares to Broadway is the theater district in West End of London, England. Just how big is Broadway? “Located in and around Times Square, the roughly thirty-five legitimate Broadway theaters form the backbone of one of the most highly concentrated entertainment districts in the world along with London’s West End” (Simonoff). The city of New York has had a professional theatre district since the eighteenth century. As time went on, the district slowly moved uptown to Broadway. In the early 1900s, the Time Square theatre district had a total of seventy theaters. These theaters were “scattered roughly in the area between Thirty-ninth Street, Fifty-ninth Street, Sixth Avenue, and Eighth Avenue” (McNamara). Today, there are approximately thirty-five theaters in the Time Square area. It’s true that today, the number of present day Broadway theaters has been cut in half from the number of theaters there once were. However, this decrease in the number of theaters does not mean that Broadway is extinct.
Russell Brown, J. 1995. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ferguson, Oliver W. "Kate's Stratagem and the Naming of the She Stoops to Conquer." Restoration and 18th Century Theatre Research. Illinois: Loyola University of Chicago, 1991
Music Hall performances developed in saloon bars and public houses throughout the 1830’s. Audiences were expected to eat, drink and chat during the show. Their participation was also encouraged, even if it meant heckling or throwing things at the performers. This made for a chaotic and vibrant new style of entertainment renowned for its inclusive atmosphere. The popularity and reputation of Music Hall boomed, and into the 1850’s many of the public houses were demolished to make way for purpose-built Music Hall theatres, such as the 700 seat ‘Canterbury Theatre’ in London. Built by Charles Morton, it was considered the ‘Father of Music Halls’.